Governor Christie cut payments to the state pension fund because New Jersey is in a fiscal emergency, his administration claimed Wednesday in a challenge to unions trying to block the move.

That fiscal emergency, which could not have been predicted, allowed Christie to take direct action and cut part of his planned pension payment, the Attorney General’s Office said in court papers filed as part of the union lawsuit. And if the courts do get involved, that would hinder a budgetary process that was assigned to the Legislature and executive branch and be an action beyond the court’s authority, the administration said.

The legal brief also makes a claim that contradicts Christie who frequently says that New Jersey’s pension system is in so much trouble that the state is at risk of becoming like Detroit, a city in bankruptcy.

Not paying the full, promised amount into the pension wouldn’t bankrupt the pension system, the administration said in the court filing.

“The pension systems are not on the verge of an imminent collapse; they are projected to continue providing benefits to retirees for at least the next thirty years,” the brief said.

For the current budget year, which ends June 30, Christie is making a $696 pension payment, which is about $900 million less than was originally planned.

In the proposed budget now being negotiated with lawmakers, Christie wants to reduce his payment by $1.6 billion to $681 million.

The unions are claiming that Christie agreed to fund the pensions on an increasing basis in a 2010 law he signed and now he can not pull back on that promise, especially in the upcoming fiscal year before any fiscal emergency can be claimed. Currently, with the fiscal year expiring at the end of June, New Jersey must plug an approximately $1 billion gap. In the next fiscal year, there is a projected $1.7 billion gap between the original revenue estimates and what is now believed will be collected.

Next year, however, the unions said Christie can’t claim the state is in a fiscal emergency before a budget is even approved. The state counters that the unions don’t have a claim because no plan is actually in place yet – Christie has only proposed cutting his pension payment for the next fiscal year and therefore the unions have not yet suffered any real damage. With no damages, the state said, unions don’t have grounds to sue.

Oral arguments are scheduled for June 25. A balanced budget must be approved by the end of the month.

Governor Christie cut payments to the state pension fund because New Jersey is in a fiscal emergency, his administration claimed Wednesday in a challenge to unions trying to block the move.

That fiscal emergency, which could not have been predicted, allowed Christie to take direct action and cut part of his planned pension payment, the Attorney General’s Office said in court papers filed as part of the union lawsuit. And if the courts do get involved, that would hinder a budgetary process that was assigned to the Legislature and executive branch and be an action beyond the court’s authority, the administration said.

The legal brief also makes a claim that contradicts Christie who frequently says that New Jersey’s pension system is in so much trouble that the state is at risk of becoming like Detroit, a city in bankruptcy.

Not paying the full, promised amount into the pension wouldn’t bankrupt the pension system, the administration said in the court filing.

“The pension systems are not on the verge of an imminent collapse; they are projected to continue providing benefits to retirees for at least the next thirty years,” the brief said.

For the current budget year, which ends June 30, Christie is making a $696 pension payment, which is about $900 million less than was originally planned.

In the proposed budget now being negotiated with lawmakers, Christie wants to reduce his payment by $1.6 billion to $681 million.

The unions are claiming that Christie agreed to fund the pensions on an increasing basis in a 2010 law he signed and now he can not pull back on that promise, especially in the upcoming fiscal year before any fiscal emergency can be claimed. Currently, with the fiscal year expiring at the end of June, New Jersey must plug an approximately $1 billion gap. In the next fiscal year, there is a projected $1.7 billion gap between the original revenue estimates and what is now believed will be collected.

Next year, however, the unions said Christie can’t claim the state is in a fiscal emergency before a budget is even approved. The state counters that the unions don’t have a claim because no plan is actually in place yet – Christie has only proposed cutting his pension payment for the next fiscal year and therefore the unions have not yet suffered any real damage. With no damages, the state said, unions don’t have grounds to sue.

Oral arguments are scheduled for June 25. A balanced budget must be approved by the end of the month.